Cattle Country

As I pass along the road and see
The gentle cattle grazing
Placidly in the fields,
A calf nudging and suckling at its mother,
While nearby two others frolic
Like any other children celebrating Life.
The rest of the herd with heads down
Chomping, foraging.
More than livestock, more than beef--these creatures;
I have seen personalities...emerge.
One beast lifts her head
And through huge liquid eyes
Stares at me curiously.
My brain is suddenly jolted
Into awareness of the reality
And superimposed upon this peaceful scene I see--
Scenes of the slaughterhouse.
Metamorphosis occurs...
My mind becomes bovine.
I wake into a nightmare!
The stench of blood fills my nostrils,
Screams of pure terror ricochet through my heavy body
As I feel myself sliding through hellishness
That reeks of unimaginable horrors.
I sense a fiendishness
Moving feverishly at the fringes of my awareness,
Like a demon's ritual dance.
Bellows, lowing, helpless bawling,
An eternity of pandemonium,
Panic clawing at my vitals
Like a banshee's howl.
I feel myself slipping
In the warm thick blood of others.
Suddenly, a savage blow cracks my skull;
I stumble as it knocks me senseless
But not unconscious. A sharp blade
Glides effortlessly over my throat
And I feel my life-force draining down
To mingle with the others who have gone before.
Double images tumble in my mind.
My head reels and veers crazily
On a roller coaster track
As my consciousness is jerked
Back to the tranquil scene of cows grazing
In cattle country.